Liberty Media To Spin Off Liberty Broadband, Issue Class C Shares

Liberty Media Corp (NASDAQ:LMCA) (NASDAQ:LMCB) released the results from its most recently completed quarter this morning. Rather than focusing on the numbers, the company focused on all the other news it announced along with the earnings results.

The media giant did post $1.011 billion in revenue and adjusted OIBDA of $294 million. Operating income rose $4 million, climbing to $155 million. Liberty Media Corp (NASDAQ:LMCA) (NASDAQ:LMCB) said the main reason for these increases was because this year it included a full quarter of results from its purchase of a controlling interest in Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI).

Analysts had been expecting $1.1 billion in revenue for the quarter.

Liberty Media to pay dividend in shares

Liberty Media Corp (NASDAQ:LMCA) (NASDAQ:LMCB) said it plans to distribute two Class C non-voting shares for each share of Class A and Class B stock in a dividend. The new stock will be distributed on July 10 to shareholders of record on July 7.

Liberty Media spins off Liberty Broadband

Liberty Media Corp (NASDAQ:LMCA) (NASDAQ:LMCB) also said this morning that it will spin off Liberty Broadband into its own company. The new company will be distributed to Liberty Media’s current shareholders. The company will also distribute subscription rights to acquire shares of the new company’s common stock.

Liberty Broadband will include Liberty Media Corp (NASDAQ:LMCA) (NASDAQ:LMCB)’s interest in Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR), its subsidiary TruePosition and its minority investment in Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE:TWC). The new company will also include a number of deferred tax and revenue liabilities and the liabilities connected to the Time Warner call option.

Under the spinoff, holders of all three classes of Liberty Media Corp (NASDAQ:LMCA) (NASDAQ:LMCB) (NASDAQ:LMCK) will receive one-fourth of a share of the new company for each share of Liberty Media they own. They will also receive a subscription right to buy a share of Liberty Broadband’s Class C common shares for every five Liberty Broadband shares they receive as part of the spinoff. The subscription rights are being offered to raise capital for Liberty Broadband.

Liberty Media updates Sirius XM, Barnes & Noble

In January 2013, Liberty Media Corp (NASDAQ:LMCA) (NASDAQ:LMCB) bought a controlling interest in Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI). The company had been seeking to make Sirius a wholly owned subsidiary, but it dropped the bid in March. Investors were thrilled with that decision and sent shares of Liberty Media higher right after the announcement.

During the first quarter of this year, Liberty Media Corp (NASDAQ:LMCA) (NASDAQ:LMCB) finished the sale of the last two tranches of Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI) shares to Sirius XM for $340 million at $3.66 a share. Liberty Media also finished the sale of 90% of its stake in Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS) in April.